Top Games/Viewers Guide - 3/7

Today's Top Games - March 7th

Conference Tournament Championship Games

Automatic Bids will be awarded to winners of these Conference Tournament Championship Games.  Conference Tournament Seeding in parentheses.

Utah State (2) vs. San Diego State (1) - Mountain West Conference
Time:  4:30 PM (CST)
Where:  Thomas & Mack Arena - Las Vegas, NV
Network:  CBS

At lot at stake in this one.  Utah State is technically on the bubble, but on the outside looking in.  A loss and they are no longer under consideration for an At-Large.  In reality, this makes them a potential bid thief as San Diego State is currently locked in and sitting on the 1 Seed line.  If Utah State wins, the likelihood for SD State to stay on that #1 seed line falls is dramatically diminished.  If the Aztecs prevail, it may be enough to lock a #1 Seed down

Murray State (2) vs.Belmont(1) - Ohio Valley Conference (OVC)
Time:  7:00 PM
Where:  Ford Center - Evansville, IN

Winner gets the Auto-Bid for the OVC.  If Belmont loses, they get auto bid to NIT as Regular Season OVC Champ.

Bracket Games

Biggest games of the day involving at least one team locked in as an At-Large qualifier.  Outcome likely to impact NCAA seeding of team(s) playing, as well as seeding in each team's respective Conference Tourney.

• Wisconsin at Indiana (11:00 AM CST, ESPN) - Wisconsin among the hottest teams in the nation has rocketed to a 5 Seed over the span of their current 7 game winning streak.  A win today would put them in a legitimate position at a protected seed (4 or higher) in NCAA Tournament.  Indiana is in a strong position on the bubble and would lock an At-Large bid over the Badgers.  A loss puts a lot more pressure on them to get at least one win in the Big Ten Tournament to avoid falling dangerously close to the field cut line.
• Baylor at West Virginia (12:00 PM)
• Kansas at Texas Tech (1:00 PM ESPN)
• Ohio State at Michigan State
• Louisville at Virginia (3:00 PM CST, ESPN) - A Louisville win guarantees them at least a share of the ACC Regular Season title.  Virginia, with a win and some help from Boston College who is playing at Florida State later, could catch a share of the title.  Virginia comes in having won 7 straight, including thrillers over Duke and Virginia Tech in the past week.  Louisville in desperate need of a Quad 1A win to improve a shallow resume' vs. Top Teams which is dampening their prospects for anything better than a 4 seed in NCAA Tourney despite being the current leader of the ACC.  Great illustration of just how down the ACC is this year.
• Seton Hall at Creighton (1:30 PM CST, FOX) - Game of the day in the Big East.  Very little separates these teams at the moment from an NCAA Seeding perspective.  Both are projected as either 2 or 3 Seeds.  Winner dramatically improves its chances for a 2 seed in the NCAA while the loser likely is locked in no better than a 3 Seed, barring a deep Big East Tournament Run and some help.  From Conference perspective Seton Hall clinches the Big East Regular Season Title outright with a win, while a Creighton win would ensure they capture a share of it.  Creighton won the earlier match-up by 5 at Seton Hall back on February 12th.
• Butler at Xavier (7:30 PM, FS1) - Like Indiana, Xavier appears to be well situated on the bubble and could clinch an At-Large with a win over the Bulldogs.  A loss drops them into dangerous territory headed into the Big East Tourney.

Bubble Games

Biggest Games involving at least 1 Team considered to be on the bubble today.  Bubble Teams are in Bold. Teams with locked At-Large bids highlighted in yellow.

• Marquette at St. John's (11:00 AM)
• Tennessee vs. Auburn (11:00 AM, ESPN2)
• South Carolina at Vanderbilt (11:30 AM, SEC Network)
• Florida vs Kentucky (12:00 PM, CBS)
• Rutgers at Purdue (1:00 PM, Big Ten Network) - I believe this to be, barring one of these teams running to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game, a virtual elimination game.  Rutgers,as I noted yesterday ('What to do with Rutgers ...') is desperately in need of at least 1 road win against a Quad 1 opponent.  Purdue, who has been on life support for 2 weeks since falling to 6-10 in the conference has kept themselves breathing winning the last 3.  A win here keeps them alive.  A loss and they are out of At-Large consideration.
• UCLA at USC  (2:15 PM, CBS)
• Texas vs. Oklahoma State (3:00 PM, ESPN2)
• Arkansas at Texas A&M (3;30 PM, SEC Network)
• Oklahoma at TCU (5:00 PM, ESPN2)
• Arizona State vs. Washington State (5:30 PM, PAC 12 Network)
• Stanford at Oregon (10:00 PM, FS1)